Why is this man smiling? Matt...
Why is this man smiling? Matt Kenseth Top-10'd the opposition into submission in 2003, drawing into stark relief how the NASCAR points system awards consistency and not outright wins. Ryan Newman won the most races, but not the war. Photo by Nigel Kinrade
There is also growing discontent among NASCAR's traditionally Southern fan base-a base that feels increasingly abandoned by a sport it supported back when stock car racing wasn't cool in other parts of the country. Now that it's hot, it's leaving some of those supporters behind.
Perhaps it was best put by a disgruntled fan last summer as he paid his final Labor Day visit to Darlington: "NASCAR better not forget where it came from, 'cause some day it may need to go back there."
NASCAR President Mike Helton says safety is his "first priority," but again the sport has to strike a delicate balance: How safe can it make a sport whose appeal is based to a great extent on daring and danger? No fan wants to see a driver injured, but every fan wants to see an action-packed (i.e., risky) race. Mark Martin addressed the paradox last autumn at Talladega: "What to us drivers is a safe race, is to many fans a boring race."
NASCAR made a major in-season rule change by banning the traditional "race back to the line" when a caution comes out. Drivers applauded it, yet at the time most criticized a second part of the rule that automatically gives the first driver a lap down his lap back.
"No racing back to the line-good; giving a guy a lap back-bad," says Darrell Waltrip. "There was no need for the second part." In the first race implementing the new rule, Ryan Newman used it to get a lap back and went on to win the race at Dover. A subsequent Busch series race ended in confusion when drivers weren't sure when, exactly, a late caution came out.
NASCAR defends the rule in the interest of its ongoing safety campaign. Two years ago, head-and-neck restraint devices became mandatory-prompted by the death of Dale Earnhardt in a Daytona 500 crash-and NASCAR continues to work on impact-absorbing "soft wall" technology.
Meanwhile, outgoing leader Bill France Jr. says NASCAR needs to "spice up" its championship system. There are indications that it will start awarding more points to the winning driver, the first change in the system since it was adopted some 30 years ago. Under the current system, it is mathematically possible for a driver to win 35 of 36 races and still not win the championship. Even the late Bob Latford, who devised the system, in later years said the race winner should receive more points.
Yet some, including seven-time champion Richard Petty, like the system just the way it is. They feel that it rewards consistency over the long haul. Like it or not, a dramatic change in the championship formula is in the air. NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter says placing a higher premium on winning "is something we're definitely looking at." Given NASCAR's traditional choke-hold on information and discussion, Hunter's acknowledgement indicates the change will be made.
African-American racer Willy T. Ribbs, frustrated over what he considered NASCAR's slow movement in the area of minority opportunity, a few years ago declared: "NASCAR today is like 1940s baseball. When baseball finally decided it wanted black players, it made it happen. If NASCAR is serious about wanting black drivers, it can make it happen the same way."
Since Ribbs' comments, NASCAR has made strides, forming a "diversity counsel" on which Brian France serves, and encouraging Dodge Motorsports' diversity program. Unfortunately, the on-track sponsorship of this program was canceled by the manufacturer just as this was being written in fall 2003.
"We're an American sport and our goal is to keep broadening our audience," France says. Despite that avowed goal, NASCAR crowds remain almost totally white, and only one African-American driver, Bill Lester, competed in any of NASCAR's top touring series. Lester is convinced the sport is making a genuine effort to enhance minority opportunities. "I believe NASCAR is completely sincere," he says. "No minority driver is looking for a handout, just an opportunity. That's what the diversity program is all about." But at this writing, Lester is without a ride for the '04 season after Dodge's pull-out from its on-track diversity initiative.